


Incumbency (A Damage Control Remix)

by sakerattminnas



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Blanket Permission, M/M, Miscarriage, Non-Graphic Mpreg, Omega Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Suicide Attempt, divine intervention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-12-21 16:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21077663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakerattminnas/pseuds/sakerattminnas
Summary: Mark would never remarry as long as Donghyuck lived. But Donghyuck could not give him what he needed, and everyone knew it.





	Incumbency (A Damage Control Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Damage Control](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20963276) by [Rainy_Summer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainy_Summer/pseuds/Rainy_Summer). 

> thank you to Rainy_Summer for letting me remix their fic!  
this fic is a little dark, so go through the tags carefully before reading it, please  
i will add further info about the tags _suicide attempt_ and _miscarriage_ in the endnote if you need it, and if there is anything else you want me to tag (for whatever reason, you don't need to justify it) please tell me in the comments or on one of the accounts linked in my profile
> 
> some other info before you read:
> 
>   * while this is abo it's not really like my other fic? like, there are no heats or ruts or anything in this 'verse. it mostly just mirrors irl sex differences and how that affects your role in society and stuff. i don't go into much detail (there _are_ knots though. just so you know.)
>   * as concerns the mpreg, it's not graphic at all, and since this is kinda set in a vague medival period the subject is pretty taboo (they never even say "pregnant" lol) and there are no actual descriptions of how his body changes or anything.
>   * i used yerim's name because it was the first one i thought of. sorry? (this is one of the reasons why she's the only named character who isn't tagged)
> 
> the status of the characters are:
> 
>   * donghyuck: omega
>   * renjun: omega
>   * Jeno: alpha
>   * Mark: alpha
>   * Yerim: beta

No one knew when or why the tower was built. The stories spoke of a man in love with a goddess who, not content to admire from afar, built it in an attempt to reach her. There, the stories diverged, sometimes letting the man join the goddess in the heavens after she'd seen his devotion, but more often ending in tragedy. The man jumped when his love was not returned, or was cast from the tower for his hubris. 

Donghyuck had always liked the story where the man was accepted into the heavens growing up. But lately he found himself gravitating towards the sadder endings. He spent many evenings at the top of the tower, watching the sky turn orange and pink. The tower was his favourite place in this new home, the only place he felt he could give in to the void expanding within him. Some evenings he would imagine the man, pushed out the opening, falling to his death. He'd wonder if there had been any time for fear.

If it had hurt.

It wouldn't be difficult for someone to push him out of the window opening; Almost no force would be needed; The opening nearly reached from floor to ceiling. If you weren't careful, it was easy to trip over the low ledge and then there was nothing more to be done. For good reason, they allowed no children to play here.

Donghyuck wasn't allowed here either, but there was no soul who knew where he went besides Renjun, and he would not tell. He would only welcome him back down with a cup of tea and silence. Then Donghyuck would climb into Mark's bed and wait for sleep to carry him off. Most of the time Mark was already asleep, but sometimes he wouldn't be there at all. Though they shared a bed, they never touched in sleep.

In the morning, if neither had duties to attend to, they would seek pleasure with each other. It was not unpleasant; Physically, it was everything he could have wanted, and yet Donghyuck was dissatisfied.

They were not a match made of love, but of duty, and Donghyuck seemed incapable of fulfilling his purpose.

* * *

Donghyuck had not been Mark’s intended. His eldest brother was to be wed to Mark when he took the throne, as had been decided before Donghyuck had been born. But his brother had run away to marry another, leaving Donghyuck’s father to deal with the consequences. Facing the potential breaking of an alliance older than their royal lineage, his father offered his youngest son as a replacement, along with an unusually substantial dowry. If Donghyuck’s father had had any other child to choose from, he would have. But as it was, there were only three brothers; The eldest, the heir, and the youngest.

Donghyuck, the youngest, considered plain and unshapely for an omega, had always been disregarded before.

* * *

Ever and anon, Donghyuck would rise before the sun, being quiet to not wake Mark, to climb up the tower and feel the cool morning breeze caress his face. Watching the sun rise from the tower made him hope for the first version of the story to be true. The yearning for it was so strong he sometimes found himself gasping for breath, but unable to tear his eyes away from the horizon.

The mornings in the tower were when he most felt the calling of the ledge and the ground below. Those times he kept far away from the window opening.

It would only take one step.

Renjun found him every time and bade him come down, to eat something, but Donghyuck stayed transfixed by the horizon. He would not leave until there was no more light to see it by.

Renjun brought food and kept him company.

* * *

Before they were wed, Mark's royal council had insisted Donghyuck be inspected by the court physician. Mark had acquiesced.

She had found no faults besides his looks and inferior status to his brother, but after enquiring of his cycles, had insisted he take a tonic for fertility from that day onward, to ensure an heir would be produced with haste. Donghyuck followed her instructions to the letter.

After a year and no sign of life growing inside him, the court had begun to whisper about _barren omegas_, and _remarriage_. Donghyuck heard, but did not give them the satisfaction of a reaction.

Deep down, he had known it to be true.

* * *

A morning like any other at the tower, Donghyuck put his foot on the ledge, looking ahead to the horizon as always. He wished someone would come and help him. He didn't know if he could do this.

The wind caressed his cheeks, the scent of the sea filled his nostrils.

Things could not remain as they were.

Mark would never remarry as long as Donghyuck lived. But Donghyuck could not give him what he needed, and everyone knew it.

It was _unbearable_.

So Donghyuck took a step forwards.

* * *

Jeno had cried when Donghyuck left.

They'd grown up believing they'd never part, that Donghyuck would stay at home until their father died and Jeno assumed the throne, and then remain there until the end of his days. Jeno had been comforted by this imagined future, Donghyuck had felt stifled and trapped. He'd only indulged in it because it was Jeno, and he loved his twin more than any other. He did not wish for Jeno to be left alone, so he'd told himself he'd stay until Jeno found a consort, and then he'd be free to go. Jeno would never keep him against his will.

But their father held onto power still, and he had decided.

Donghyuck had not cried.

* * *

_It is not your time, child._

Waking up on the forest floor, Donghyuck lay still, overwhelmed with both melancholia and joy over his failure. Relief battled with shame, but neither won out. As Donghyuck sat up, he came face to face with a flower in full bloom.

He let his face drop to his knees, not being able to hold in his sobs.

“Donghyuck,” Mark’s voice said, hesitant.

Donghyuck hastily tried to wipe all evidence of his tears away, even as he knew it was fruitless. “Yes?”

“What’s wrong?”

Donghyuck shook his head. He spotted Renjun a distance away, half-hiding behind a tree. Mark laid his hand on Donghyuck’s nape, attempting comfort.

“Come inside, you’re shivering.” When Donghyuck said nothing, he added, “Please, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck took Mark’s proffered hand and followed him back to the castle.

* * *

That evening, while making Donghyuck's tea, Renjun knocked his hand against the vial of tonic, making it crash to the floor and splinter into a thousand pieces, tonic uselessly wetting the floor. He stared down at it, terrified. Donghyuck felt dread rising in his throat.

Servants had been flogged for less than this.

Voice trembling, he addressed Renjun. "I'm sorry, I'm so clumsy. Will you clean that up for me? The tea can wait."

Renjun hastened to clean up the glass. When he was done, he knelt by Donghyuck, and they took tea together. His hands trembled as he poured.

Donghyuck breathed in the steam from his cup. If the tonic had not worked in a year and more, he told himself, it would not work. No one had to find out what had happened. There was no use in taking it, in any event. 

* * *

A fortnight from his failure at the tower, a servant crashed into Donghyuck from behind as he was taking a sip of wine, knocking it out of his hand and onto the floor. The servant apologised profusely, and guards were quickly at his side, beginning to escort him out of the hall.

Donghyuck had no time to react before they were gone. Renjun came with new wine, letting his eyes meet Donghyuck's for a second before casting them down again.

Instead of going to the tower that night, he followed Mark into their rooms. He approached him tentatively. Softly grasping his hands, Donghyuck asked, "Will you do me one kindness, my king?"

"Yes, of course."

"Free the servant. He meant no harm, and no harm was done. Do this for me, and I will be in your debt."

"I will do it, but you will owe me no debt. It is in your right as my consort to ask such favours. I will see to it now." Mark left, and Donghyuck summoned Renjun to get started for bed.

Renjun was brewing tea when Mark came back, Donghyuck already dressed for sleep. Renjun looked uncertainly between Mark and Donghyuck.

Sensing his discomfort, Donghyuck dismissed him after he had served the tea.

"It is done," Mark said.

Donghyuck cupped his face in his hands and kissed him softly. When he moved back, Mark followed, and Donghyuck let him.

* * *

“Will you make me a promise?” Mark whispered in his ear.

Donghyuck waited for him to elaborate.

“Do not go up the tower again.”

This was a promise Donghyuck could not keep. Eyes closing, he kept his silence and waited for the time they could separate once more.

* * *

Donghyuck woke alone. After calling for Renjun to fetch him some hot water for a bath, he started moving to get out of bed. But when he did, he felt a cramping in his belly, and stilled.

It did not go away.

When Renjun returned, he found Donghyuck clenching his teeth against the pain and refusing to move an inch. He seemed at a loss for what to do, but when he lay a hand on the sheets next to Donghyuck, Donghyuck took it and held on tightly, until the pain passed.

“Your Grace, will you let me call the physician?”

Donghyuck turned his head to the side. “A warm bath will suffice.”

Renjun wordlessly returned to preparing the bath.

The blood on the sheets wasn’t visible until Donghyuck got up. Renjun inhaled sharply. Turning around to find the cause for the shock on Renjun’s face brought Donghyuck into confrontation with a devastating truth.

He had been with child.

And he had lost it.

Donghyuck sank to the floor and buried his head in his hands.

Eventually Renjun coaxed him into the bath, where Donghyuck sat until the water went cold, grieving for what could have been. Renjun strips the sheets off the bed, and it’s as if nothing ever happened.

Apart from the empty feeling in Donghyuck's chest.

* * *

"You ought to consider taking another consort."

Mark stilled. Donghyuck waited.

Carefully and firmly, Mark replied. "I will not."

"You have nothing to lose by this, and everything to gain. The court will not blame you. They are expecting it. I will not give you an heir, so you must find someone who will."

Mark pulled back, something unidentifiable in his face. "I have everything to lose."

Donghyuck let the subject drop.

* * *

"Can I visit you?" Jeno had asked, a few days before Donghyuck's departure.

"I would like that. But once you're King, it won't be possible."

A smile had risen to Jeno's lips. "That won't happen for years yet."

"But you must still get Father’s permission until then."

The smile had dropped from Jeno's face. "Then you must come visit me. When Father dies."

Donghyuck had whirled around to face his brother. "Be careful," he had chided, "Those words are nigh on treason."

"You will visit me?" Jeno had held eye contact, unrepentant.

Holding in a sigh, Donghyuck had said, "If my king will allow it."

* * *

Mark looked, searching, at Donghyuck when the news reached them.

His father was dead, and Jeno would take the throne. Donghyuck felt a laugh bubble up his throat, and only barely suppressed it. It came so soon after his departure; Less than two years. If it had happened sooner, Donghyuck would still be at home. Though he's unconvinced he'd have been more content there, even though he knows Jeno would have preferred it so.

"We shall journey there for the burial," Mark declared.

Donghyuck pictured the face his brother would make when they met again and realised he couldn't. Were two years enough for him to forget his brother’s face? Would his brother still know him?

Would they meet again as brothers or strangers?

* * *

The embrace Jeno welcomed him with verged on impropriety, even between brothers, and Donghyuck would feel relieved if he were not so aware of the slight against Mark. Mark was not offended, even when Jeno focused the bulk of his attention on Donghyuck, but Donghyuck knew Jeno could not make this mistake again. As soon as they were truly alone, he reprimanded him on this, before succumbing to another one of Jeno's embraces.

Donghyuck let himself be held.

Perhaps he had changed, but Jeno had not, and he still loved him.

* * *

"Your Grace, if you would permit me to speak freely?"

Donghyuck nodded his assent.

"I believe, if you wanted, that His Highness would allow you to remain here after he returns home. I do not think he wishes for you to be unhappy." Renjun spoke sincerely, if quietly. It seemed implied that he, too, would remain.

"I do not...” Donghyuck hesitated. “This is not my home."

"Your Grace?"

"I do not think- no, I know I would not be happier here than with His Highness, across the sea." He'd thought long on this, pondering whether it was what he wanted, and had found it was not. He wanted to remain by Mark's side. He needed to fulfil his duty as best he could.

"I defer to your judgement, Your Grace."

* * *

On the return journey, the first thing visible of his new home was the tower. For the first time it appeared as ominous to him as it must everyone else, sending chills down Donghyuck's spine. Instead of watching it get closer, as he had the first time, Donghyuck went below deck. Renjun, ever at his side, followed.

"Do you have family?" Donghyuck asked.

"No, Your Grace."

Donghyuck frowned. Then, he felt an urge too difficult too resist. Surely Renjun would not be upset if he asked? "Then, will you call me kin? I only ask you, this is not a command, but I pray you indulge me in this. It would make both of us feel better, I think."

"It would be my honour, Your Grace. Though I dare not before anybody else but you."

"The knowledge itself will be enough for me. I have now not two brothers, but three, what a lovely thought."

"Forgive me, your eldest brother did not come for the burial?" Renjun seemed unaware of his slip, and Donghyuck didn't point it out. It was such a trivial thing.

Donghyuck smiled. "He was there. But he did not arrive with so much fanfare as us, and he was sure to keep a distance." A wry smile quirked his lips. "The desire to avoid being confronted with my husband won out over the desire to see me."

"But there were plenty of times when Your Grace was alone with your brother, the King; Could he not have seen you then?" Renjun sounded upset on Donghyuck's behalf.

"Perhaps he did not wish to be confronted with me either. If he'd found me anything but happy and content in my life, he'd have none to blame but himself, even if I do not."

Renjun looked curious. "You do not think he is responsible for your marriage to His Highness?" 

"He bears part of it, that is true, but the brunt of the fault falls on my father’s shoulders, may he rest in peace," Donghyuck said. "Had my brother not done what he did, he would certainly have been more miserable than I could ever be as His Highness's prince consort. The difference between us is that I was not in love. And all the same, I would not have been happy staying in my father's court. I do not miss it."

"But you miss your brothers?" Renjun said.

"Yes, but not terribly. I know they are well, I know they do not need me. In fact, Jeno will be better off without me at his court."

"Why?"

"I am not well liked there. Even when his eldest shirked his duties, my father would rather have him at his side than me, and the court agreed. All I can do to prove them wrong is to remain at my husband’s side and attempt to fulfil my duty. Truth be told, I think I prefer it."

"I hope you find joy, Your Grace." Renjun dared put a hand over Donghyuck's, briefly. Donghyuck, in a rare show of trust, let the appreciation show on his face.

* * *

As their last night aboard enveloped them in darkness, Donghyuck started feeling the effects of sea-sickness. He ventured on deck when it became clear it would not pass. Mark followed him, Renjun in tow, finding Donghyuck vomiting over the side.

Mark hurried forward to place his arm around Donghyuck's waist. "Oh, darling."

Donghyuck's heart pounded.

"You must be careful. Renjun, fetch a bucket. Bring it to our quarters."

Once more ensconced in their quarters, Donghyuck felt the nausea rising at the confined air and constant rocking. Renjun, at Donghyuck's side much quicker than he would have expected, helped him arrange himself on the cot and placed the bucket on the floor. Then he offered a cup of water. Donghyuck drank carefully, taking restrained small sips to not aggravate the nausea.

He vomited once more before falling asleep, Renjun softly telling him barely remembered stories from his homeland to soothe him all the while.

* * *

After their return home, Renjun took much longer fetching food than before, Donghyuck noticed. There was never anything wrong with it, and it was never cold, but the time from when he'd depart for the kitchens, to when he returned to Donghyuck with food, had tripled.

Donghyuck took great pains to conceal this from Mark.

* * *

"Your Grace, it's now two months gone since the burial. In that time... You have not- Your Grace has not-”

Donghyuck laid his book down on the table. He regarded his hands in stunned silence. This was a cruel trick. It could not be. After two years...

"-I believe Your Grace is with child," Renjun said. He was smiling.

A hand to his mouth, Donghyuck closed his eyes, feeling tears of relief rolling down his cheeks.

* * *

When near four months had passed, the worst of the danger over, Donghyuck bade Renjun speak to Mark.

In bed that night, Mark first kissed Donghyuck's cheek and then his lips, reverently.

Donghyuck gave him his word he would not climb up the tower again.

* * *

Renjun still took an inordinate amount of time to fetch food.

Mark finding out was an inevitability.

* * *

"What have you to say for yourself?"

Renjun hung his head low, saying nothing.

"You will be relieved of your post without delay.” Renjun raised his head, fear written clear as day on his face. “I have half a mind to cast you out on the streets."

"Please, Your Highness, you can do _anything_ else to me, but I beg you, Your Highness, to let me keep attending His Grace," Renjun pleaded.

Mark seemed confused. Donghyuck seized his chance.

"Your Highness, I beg pardon, but I will not have my favourite servant leave. As he is _my _servant, I believe I have final say over punishments."

A pained look passed over Mark's face. "See to it."

After Mark had left, Renjun insisted he had good reason for the delays. Donghyuck listened, and did not punish him.

* * *

At the news of a banquet, Renjun sat down next to Donghyuck and began to cry.

"Renjun! Whatever is the matter?" Donghyuck said.

Mark stood still where he had delivered the news, watching.

Words tumbled out of Renjun; He told of how he'd suspected someone had been slipping something into Donghyuck's food, how it was only after they left the castle Donghyuck had got with child, and so quickly at that. How he'd been preparing Donghyuck's meals himself ever since their return, how a kitchen maid had seen a cupbearer put something in Donghyuck's wine on the last feast.

Donghyuck was speechless. He had the sinking feeling of hearing a horrible truth unmasked. If this was true, it meant there were people living in the castle who did not stop at gossip and verbal ridicule in their distaste for Donghyuck, people who had acted to hurt him. Suddenly, the walls of the castle did not feel so secure.

"Have you any proof of this?" Mark asked.

"Only the word of the maid, and my own observations, Your Highness."

"Very well." He opened the door and brought in a guard. "You are to bring a kitchen maid. He will tell you her name." He gestured toward Renjun.

"Yerim is her name, sir," said Renjun meekly.

Once the guard had brought her and Renjun had confirmed it was the right girl, Mark faced her.

"Your Highness." She curtsied. "May I ask if I am in trouble?"

"Only if you lie," Mark said ominously.

Donghyuck could only watch, still trapped by a sense of danger. Renjun made eye contact and twitched as if he'd wanted to move somewhere, then he flicked his eyes to Marks back.

"Some tea, Renjun?" Donghyuck said.

Mark turned. "Do you think that is wise?"

Donghyuck fixed him with a disbelieving look. "If Renjun had wanted to poison me, this does not seem like the way to go about doing it. He has been by my side for over two years, near constantly. Why ever would he have told you this if he wanted me poisoned?"

This, Mark could not argue.

Renjun made tea.

Mark returned his attention to Yerim, asking if she'd ever seen anything suspicious in the kitchen.

"Yes, Your Highness. One of the old cupbearers poured something in His Grace's cup this last feast. I could not make anyone listen! I was so relieved when I heard it had spilled and His Grace had got a new cup."

A sudden revelation chilled Donghyuck to the bone. He had drank from the cup before it had spilled, and in the morning... 

Renjun placed a cup of tea in his hands. "Your Grace," he whispered.

"Darling, you're white as a sheet! What's wrong, was it the tea?"

"Oh, do not be ridiculous! I have not had a drop of the tea yet. No, I have come to a dreadful conclusion.” Donghyuck looked to Yerim. “It is not my wish to distress you, Yerim, but I must confess to drinking the wine."

"Oh no, Your Grace, I could never forgive myself! Please tell me you are speaking in jest," Yerim pleaded.

Donghyuck felt exhaustion settle over him. "You are not to blame, I’m certain you did everything you could."

"Yes, thank you, Yerim. You are dismissed," Mark said.

The door closed quietly behind her as she left. Mark knelt in front of Donghyuck.

"What happened?"

Renjun said, "He lost the child." Donghyuck closed his eyes, grieving still.

Mark kept addressing Donghyuck. “You did not tell me this."

"You must understand, Your Highness, it is not a subject of which one speaks lightly," Renjun said.

"I must," Mark began, outrage colouring his voice.

Donghyuck opened his eyes. "Yes. You will never know the pain I felt. I am still grieving, many months later. Knowing that it was no fault of my own might have made my heart lighter back then, but now it gives me nothing but fear."

"I wish for you to trust me with things like this. I do not want to be ignorant of your suffering, as I have been."

"You have not been entirely unaware, I am sure. But I will try, in future. Perhaps Renjun shall play messenger again."

Renjun giggled and Donghyuck turned a smile at him.

Mark eyed them, then stood. "I need to take care of this matter. I would be much obliged if you would remain here whilst I am gone."

"Yes, Your Highness," Renjun said.

Donghyuck sipped his tea.

* * *

"Are you happy?" Jeno had asked, before Donghyuck boarded the ship back home.

"I am not unhappy." Donghyuck had said. He'd thought it had been a lie, at the time.

"Do you love him, at least?"

"I could, in time."

There were tears in Jeno's eyes as they bid each other farewell.

* * *

Mark encouraged him to travel to his brother and spend the remainder of the time until his confinement there, so he might find and condemn those who bore Donghyuck ill will. Many would face banishment, some the gallows.

Donghyuck did not let himself think on it too long, only boarded a ship headed to his former home. And so it happened that Donghyuck and Renjun stepped off the ship without having sent word of their arrival.

The guards at the castle gate were at a loss for what to do. Eventually they settled on sending a passing maid to fetch someone of higher rank.

Donghyuck waited patiently.

The steward’s eyebrow twitched in surprise as he lay eyes on Donghyuck. After a greeting consisting of a bow and a stilted, “Your Grace,” he led them to one of the rooms in Jeno's chambers. Donghyuck had spent precious little time here as a child, when they were his father's, so he took the liberty of exploring once the steward had left.

"Your Grace," Renjun said, shocked.

Donghyuck only giggled at him.

The door opened. Jeno rushed in, stopping at the sight of Donghyuck. He gasped out Donghyuck’s name, and there were so many emotions veiled in the single word, Donghyuck could never hope to parse them all.

He went to envelop Jeno in his arms.

"Why have you come? And why did you not send word?"

Renjun locked the door with a resounding click. Jeno twitched.

"I am with child, and as we have reason to believe I would not be safe at home, my husband suggested I go to you."

Jeno's eyes opened wide. "With child? How long?"

"Just past four months."

The sound of Renjun preparing tea filled the silences between their words.

"I am happy that you are here, of course, but surely the danger could not be so grave that it was safer to sail across the ocean than stay at home?"

And so, Donghyuck began telling his brother of the past years, and how Renjun had cleverly deduced what was wrong, and subsequently silently protected him until he could do so no longer.

Jeno eyed the food that was brought to them by the servants distrustfully. Renjun rose from where he had been sitting by Donghyuck's side and said, "I will go prepare you a meal, Your Grace."

"Thank you, Renjun."

When he'd left the rooms, Jeno leaned towards Donghyuck. "You trust him?"

"Utterly. For a long time, he was my only confidante."

"Then he will have anything he wants."

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow.

"Within reason," Jeno amended.

"Well, it is reassuring to find you unchanged."

* * *

As he was laying out the meal he'd prepared, Renjun spoke. "I believe His Highness would like to be there, after your confinement, Your Grace.” Then he amended, “...Though perhaps not for the event itself."

Donghyuck was glad he had not begun eating, for he surely would have choked.

"Perhaps pose the question in a letter?"

"How does one go about asking his husband if he would like to come visit for one's confinement?"

"Rather like that, I expect, Your Grace."

Donghyuck pondered the matter for the remainder of the evening. Ultimately, he decided, it would be best if Mark were posed the option, at least. Then Donghyuck could surrender responsibility to him and simply concentrate on his own part. Naturally, it would be preferable for him if Mark were there, after, but Donghyuck would get by even if he wasn’t.

After careful deliberation, he set off writing a letter to Mark. He asked Renjun for advice when he thought a phrase might be too forward, or too meek, but let most of the first draft be simply his thought on paper. It was something he had done often, as a child, and later, when he'd needed to keep in contact with his brothers. It was always best to get everything down first, and then structure and rephrase it carefully.

He asked Renjun to read through the second draft.

"I think this will do nicely, Your Grace. His Highness will be glad to hear from you."

Donghyuck hoped so.

* * *

_I would have you stay a year after your confinement, to finish business here, and for your and the baby's safety._ Mark had written, scant days before setting out. There was no reason to write back, the letter would not reach him now. There was only waiting until he arrived.

Donghyuck would not stay twelve more months. He wanted to go home, even if it were dangerous.

He welcomed Mark as was befitting of a king’s consort, and expected by their company, but when they were alone he spoke his mind. "I will not stay here another twelve months. A sixmonth is the most I will give you before I return, for I miss my home, and shall not be apart from it for more than necessary."

Something strangely like hope was dawning on Mark's features. "Then I will endeavour to be ready for your return in a sixmonth."

"Good," Donghyuck said, smiling.

* * *

The midwife held the baby in her arms, wrapping it up in blankets and cooing. She handed it to Donghyuck, said, "A healthy little alpha boy, Your Grace," and left.

"I will go inform His Highness and His Highness."

Donghyuck laughed, it was always confusing, when Mark and Jeno were in the same place, who Renjun was referring to. He focused his attention on the bundle in his arms, gazing down at the face of his son. The boy had been crying, but had quieted down when he'd reached Donghyuck's arms.

Mark and Jeno entered quietly, settling by his bedside. Mark reached out, and Donghyuck, who had been sure he had wanted to inspect the baby, was surprised when the hand stroked the hair off Donghyuck's forehead instead. He watched Mark, curious.

"Is the largest danger over for you now, my love?"

"Yes, you need not worry," Donghyuck said, politely.

Mark said, "And yet I do."

"It is only natural, Your Highness," added Renjun.

Donghyuck found his attention once more caught by the child in his arms. The relief was buzzing through him, making his very skin tingle. He had fulfilled his duty.

He had proved them wrong.

With the background noise of Mark asking Renjun questions and Renjun's quiet voice answering them, Jeno said, "Are you happy?"

Donghyuck smiled at him. “Yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> for the **suicide attempt **we are in the pov of donghyuck when he jumps out of a tower to take his life. everything leading up to the attempt is fairly "graphic", i guess, but after, he wakes up like nothing happened (which is where the "divine intervention" tag comes in). leading up to this there are suicidal thoughts and insinuations that he wishes someone would kill him.
> 
> donghyuck suffers a **miscarriage **in one scene, which involves blood and painful cramping (and emotional distress). this comes after, and is unrelated to, the suicide attempt.
> 
> * * *
> 
> so there are, in my head, three instances of divine intervention in this fic. the first is pretty obvious, lol, the second is renjun knocking the vial over, the third is the servant crashing into donghyuck and spilling the wine (which sets into motion Renjun figuring out whats been happening). i suppose the first is really the only one that is clearly divine intervention, so if you believe in death of the author, be my guest to ascribe the other two to luck, i guess?  
i would also like to add that i absolutely do not think donghyuck is ugly, in fact, his face is my favourite face in nct (and i have the pictures on my phone to prove it lol)  
i hope you enjoyed reading this! (please tell me if you find any mistakes)  
[tumblr](https://thelittlesel.tumblr.com/)


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